if I get better soon--Well, well; that poor girl is an orphan too; and
Alphonse was an orphan. With what misery have we struggled in France
since this man has ruled our destinies! how have the crimes of a people
brought their retribution to every heart and every home!--none
too low, none too humble, to feel them. Leave this land; no blessing can
rest upon it now. Poor thing! how worthy of a better lot she is! If this
same officer should know,--it is not impossible. But, why do I say this?
No, no; you'll never meet him now."

He continued to mutter thus some broken and disjointed sentences,
half-aloud, for some minutes, apparently unconscious of my presence.

"He was in a regiment of the Guard. Alas! she told me which, but I
forget it now; but his name, surely I remember his name! Well, well, it
is a sad story. Adieu, my dear child! good-by! We have each a weary
road before us; but my journey, although the longest, will be soonest
accomplished. Do not forget my words to you. Your own country, and your
country's cause, above every other; all else is the hireling's part. The
sense of duty alone can sustain a man in the trials which fit him for
this world, or that better one which is to follow. Adieu!" He threw his
arm around me as he said this, and leaned exhausted and faint upon my
shoulder.

The few who journey through life with little sympathy or friendship from
their fellow-men, may know how it rent my heart to part with one to whom
I clung every hour closer; my throat swelled and throbbed, and I could
only articulate a faint good-by as we parted. As the door was closing, I
heard his voice again.

"Yes, I have it now; I remember it well,--'Le Capitaine Burke.'"

I started in amazement, for during all our intercourse he had never
asked nor had I told my name, and I stood unable to speak; when he
continued,--"You 'll think of the name,--she said, too, he was on the
staff,--'Burke!' Poor girl!"

I did not wait for more, but like one flying from some dreaded enemy I
rushed through the garden, and gained the road, my heart torn with many
a conflicting thought; the bitterest of all being the memory of Minette,
the orphan girl, who alone of all the world cared for me. Oh! if strong,
deep-rooted affection, the love of a whole heart, can raise the spirit
above the every-day contentions of the world,--can ennoble thought,
refine sentiments, and divest life of all its meaner traits, making a
path of flowers among the rock